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Mr Abbott's wife of 24 years, Margie, was at the forefront of an extraordinary media blitz today to counter claims by Labor that the Opposition Leader has a problem with women, especially those in positions of power, or, say, currently occupying the Lodge.

Revelations Mr Abbott would rather snuggle and watch an episode of period drama Downton Abbey rather than watch the footy and that he occasionally sheds a tear at the movies provided plenty of fodder for the online and out-to-play.

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For the most part, the Twitterverse steered clear of the all-too prevalent bile and vile troll-style tweets and kept the tone light, with clever pop-culture references and acerbic pun-play.

Social commentator Helen Razer set the tone early on: ''He's just a boy. Standing in front of a primary female vote. Asking her to love him #SensitiveTony.''

The response was extraordinary with hundreds of tweets adopting the hashtag and bringing the lulz.

Twitter user Suzy Wrong managed to combine two social media phenomenons with the new internet meme: ''#SensitiveTony has the best quinoa recipe board on Pinterest.''

A parody account, Fake Tony Abbott , drew parallels with the Von Trapp family: ''Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens - a few of #SensitiveTony's favourite things.''

The real Tony Abbott, however, made it fairly clear today that women are high on the list of his favourite things.And he doesn't have a problem with that at all.